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U.S. NEWS Thursday 7 February 2019

Arizona city officials decry new razor wire on border wall

Press. U.S. Customs and Bor-
der Protection and the De-
partment of Defense also
did not respond to inqui-
ries about why additional
wire was installed over the
weekend.
City leaders were critical of
military exercises at the bor-
der during the holiday sea-
son, saying they believed
it scared shoppers during
one of the busiest times of
the year.
The proclamation the city
council is scheduled to
vote on says concertina
wire is typically something
found in battlefields, and
that placing it along the
entirety of the border fence
is “not only irresponsible but
In this Monday, Feb. 4, 2019 photo, a school bus rolls past the concertina wire-covered fence at inhuman.”
East International and Nelson Streets in downtown Nogales, Ariz. In a tweet, U.S. Rep. Raul
Associated Press Grijalva, a Democrat,
NOGALES, Ariz. (AP) — Of- onslaught.” stacked along the approxi- called the additional wire
ficials in a small Arizona Concertina wire has be- mately two-story wall. a stunt by the Trump ad-
border city are decrying come the most visible sign Nogales, a city of about ministration, which he said
the installation of new razor of Trump’s deployment 20,000 people, is a frac- is “trying to create the per-
wire that now covers the of thousands of troops to tion of the size of the Mexi- ception of rampant law-
entirety of a tall border wall the border amid anxieties can city, but its economy is lessness and crime.”
through downtown. about a Central American largely reliant on Mexican Information released by the
The city council in Nogales, caravan around the time shoppers and cross-border federal government shows
which sits on the border of the midterm elections. trade. Illegal crossings in the number of arrests by
with Nogales, Mexico, is Soldiers have installed con- that area have dropped the Border Patrol is the low-
set to consider a procla- certina wire at or near sev- steeply in the past several est since the early 1970s,
mation Wednesday night eral official crossings, or years. Mayor Arturo Ga- while the number of agents
condemning the use of ports of entry, at the U.S.- rino told the paper that has more than doubled.
concertina wire. It follows Mexico border. he asked U.S. Sen. Martha Over 1.6 million arrests
reports that U.S. military In late November, U.S. Cus- McSally to help the city were made by just about
troops installed more hori- toms and Border Protection have the wire removed 9,200 agents nationwide
zontal layers of the wire said the military had sent 36 during a visit to the bor- in the 2000. But those fig-
along the downtown bor- miles (58 kilometers) of con- der last month. “That wire ures tapered off as the
der fence over the week- certina wire for use in Cali- is lethal, and I really don’t government dramatically
end. fornia, Arizona, and Texas. know what they’re think- increased staffing and re-
The vote also comes one At the start of November, ing by putting it all the way sources like more surveil-
day after President Donald soldiers in Texas installed down to the ground,” he lance technology and tall,
Trump made his case to the lines of wire coils below a said Monday. Neither Ga- steel fencing. By last fiscal
American people about major bridge near McAllen, rino nor a spokeswoman year, about 19,000 Bor-
the need for a border wall Texas, along the U.S. side of for McSally returned mes- der Patrol agents made
to protect the nation and the border. sages from The Associated 310,000 arrests.q
how he has ordered 3,750 Photos published by the
troops to prepare for what Nogales International show
he called a “tremendous six rows of concertina wire